Vespa 400

Not your average microcar

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

Mention "microcar" and everybody's eyes begin to glaze over with the thought of bubble-shaped nerd-mobiles unfit for the rigors of anything other than fizzing around Rome with Audrey Hepburn in a light romantic comedy. The Vespa 400, though, is more along the lines of a Fiat 500 or a Goggomobil: a real car, shrunk down to its smallest dimension.
For its name--synonymous with Italy--and its Italian styling, the Vespa 400 is actually a French car. The Vespa 400 was developed by the massive transportation conglomerate Piaggio (parent of the Vespa scooter company), but it was actually built in France by Ateliers de Constructions de Motos et Accessoires (ACMA), which was also licensed to build Vespa scooters in that country.
Produced between 1958 and 1961, the Vespa 400 is something of an anomaly in the microcar world. Most microcars are based around scooter or small motorcycle powerplants and sized up and enclosed to protect passengers from the weather. The Vespa 400 was a car from its first inception and features a vertical twin-cylinder two-stroke, air-cooled engine unique to this particular model.
The Vespa 400 featured technologically advanced construction and suspension technologies. Like the scooter it shared its name with, the Vespa 400's sheetmetal body also comprised its backbone, the true monocoque inspired by Piaggio's aircraft heritage. Unit-body construction allowed the Vespa 400's chassis to be light and strong. The car's suspension was independent at all four corners, supported by coil springs. Even the tiny 4.40 x 10-inch wheels were unique to the car, and shared no elements with the scooter.
The 394cc engine developed a blistering 14hp, and the top speed of 50 mph accumulated in a leisurely 25 seconds through the Vespa 400's three-speed gearbox (a four-speed was available outside the United States). Nevertheless, as long as your rear passengers were small, you could fit a family of four inside, provided you weren't big eaters. Storage space was limited, thanks to the 12-volt battery that sits inside a drawer accessed from the car's nose. It was all business from the driver's seat, with an unadorned steering wheel, a simple speedometer, a generator light, a fuel light (with no gauge), light and wiper switches and a hole in the dash for a glovebox. All Vespa 400s feature a roll-top convertible roof that opens the entire roof all the way to the rear decklid.
Piaggio introduced the Vespa 400 at the Paris salon in 1957 and managed to sell 12,000 400s in the first year. By the close of production in 1961, 28,000 units found their way into the hands of customers.
But, as is the story with all microcars, the introduction of two other models from Germany and Great Britain put multiple nails in the coffin of the Vespa 400. Much as the Vespa 400 was a significantly more usable car than the microcars that preceded it, the Austin Mini and the Volkswagen Beetle were light years ahead of the Vespa 400. They could not only carry four passengers in comfort, but they could achieve speeds near double that of the Vespa 400 in half the time.
Today, Vespa 400s are rare around the world, but especially here in the United States. Between 1959 and 1960 (the only two years the car was officially imported here) just 1,700 made it to the United States, but others have been imported here in the intervening years. As is the case with any unit-body car, rust is a particularly insidious problem, and parts for Vespa 400s are exceedingly rare. Prices for restored cars hover between $12,000 and $15,000, with restorable cars generally priced in the $5,000 range.

This article originally appeared in the August, 2008 issue of Hemmings Motor News.